GoldenSpike
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2009
- Messages
- 319
Couple comments. I support high speed rail 100% but I also hope the public understands that true "high speed" rail requires a lot of money as noted above. Are people being told empty promises? I hope not. Boardman has also suggested that incrementally upgrading existing tracks to accommodate higher-speed rail (110 MPH) would build support for faster trains and he probably has the right idea. Most people I speak with still feel Amtrak is painfully slow (and at times it definitely is...often at the mercy of the freight railroads). Amtrak's own report of re-introducing the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans at http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/PRIAA/GulfCoastS...ePlanReport.pdf states the following with regard to a particularly slow section:If high speed rail was a top priority they would spend some real money on it. Not just the 8 billion this year or the still undecided amount for next year but the 50 billion Rep. Oberstar is proposing to spend. That still wouldn't ge enough but it would get things going.
Hear!Hear!Ditto!The HSR $$ will be fought out in DC with lots of mouths @ the trough and lots of cities/areas competing forI definitely support the incremental improvement approach. I think we need to walk before we try to run.
Personally, I would like to see us bring our railroad system up to the standards of, say, Great Britain. Most trains run at under 100 mph, but there are trains at least hourly to almost anywhere you might like to go. (I know the Brits on the forum can tell us about the many problems of their rail system, but it's still decades ahead of ours).
I don't really need to travel 180 mph to go from Buffalo to Cleveland (although it would be fun). But I sure would like to be able to visit my uncle there without having to ask him to pick me up at the station at 3:30 AM. More frequent and more reliably on-time service is a more cost-effective way to increase ridership than high speeds (unless they include the other two aspects), IMO.
Well, who'd want to go to Cleveland at 180 mph anyway?I don't really need to travel 180 mph to go from Buffalo to Cleveland (although it would be fun).
I do think that daytime arrivals and departures from major cities along a train route would be desirable. Not too many people are going to want to start or end a major cross-country ride (or even one to another city 200-300 miles away) at 3:00 am.But I sure would like to be able to visit my uncle there without having to ask him to pick me up at the station at 3:30 AM.
I know about connections and dispatching by the freights etc. but wonder why burgs can have train stops in the daylight amd major cities are visitedWell, who'd want to go to Cleveland at 180 mph anyway?I don't really need to travel 180 mph to go from Buffalo to Cleveland (although it would be fun).
OTOH, who'd want to go to Buffalo at that speed?
I do think that daytime arrivals and departures from major cities along a train route would be desirable. Not too many people are going to want to start or end a major cross-country ride (or even one to another city 200-300 miles away) at 3:00 am.But I sure would like to be able to visit my uncle there without having to ask him to pick me up at the station at 3:30 AM.
Even the NEC sees a train make a stop at a major city in the middle of the night.I know about connections and dispatching by the freights etc. but wonder why burgs can have train stops in the daylight amd major cities are visitedWell, who'd want to go to Cleveland at 180 mph anyway?I don't really need to travel 180 mph to go from Buffalo to Cleveland (although it would be fun).
OTOH, who'd want to go to Buffalo at that speed?
I do think that daytime arrivals and departures from major cities along a train route would be desirable. Not too many people are going to want to start or end a major cross-country ride (or even one to another city 200-300 miles away) at 3:00 am.But I sure would like to be able to visit my uncle there without having to ask him to pick me up at the station at 3:30 AM.
in the middle of the night(can you say SL/LSL/Cardinal/CL/SWC/CZ/EB(isnt SPK a major city?),come to think about it almost every route except the NEC!!
Give the stations that have 10 people a year board/deboard the wee hour stops!!!(theyre safer and folks can wait in their cars easier!!)
You are correct about calling times and connections,but whats wrong with altering the LD times,perhaps stagger the departure/arrival times inEven the NEC sees a train make a stop at a major city in the middle of the night.I know about connections and dispatching by the freights etc. but wonder why burgs can have train stops in the daylight amd major cities are visitedWell, who'd want to go to Cleveland at 180 mph anyway?I don't really need to travel 180 mph to go from Buffalo to Cleveland (although it would be fun).
OTOH, who'd want to go to Buffalo at that speed?
I do think that daytime arrivals and departures from major cities along a train route would be desirable. Not too many people are going to want to start or end a major cross-country ride (or even one to another city 200-300 miles away) at 3:00 am.But I sure would like to be able to visit my uncle there without having to ask him to pick me up at the station at 3:30 AM.
in the middle of the night(can you say SL/LSL/Cardinal/CL/SWC/CZ/EB(isnt SPK a major city?),come to think about it almost every route except the NEC!!
Give the stations that have 10 people a year board/deboard the wee hour stops!!!(theyre safer and folks can wait in their cars easier!!)
But again, when a city in the middle of a run gets served is a funtion of how long does it take to get there from the end point cities. Everything revolves around the end point cities, which typically are the largest and in most cases offer transfers to other trains. The timings must be coordinated to facilitate those transfers and serving those end point cities.
Everything else just falls into place after that based upon the running times. Maybe if people were more accepting of slow running and/or just sitting some where during the run, we could improve calling times for major cities in the middle of a run. But that would also of course affect the overall running times and one would still have to be careful not to kill transfers.
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